Born as
David Henry Neal in Desborough, Northamptonshire, on 13th February
1932, David trained at RADA between 1958 and 1962. Amongst his contemporaries
were Patrick Mower, Martin Jarvis, Lynda la Plante and Christopher Bidmead; Bidmead
and la Plante would later change career and move into scriptwriting - Bidmead
would become a script editor for 1980s Doctor
Who, whilst la Plante would create Prime
Suspect amongst many other highly respected dramas.
Although rarely cast in leading roles the slender framed and hollow featured
Neal had a career that spanned three decades and included a variety of
supporting and guest roles in major productions on TV and in the cinema. Shortly
after his graduation he became a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company.
However, during the 1960s and 1970s the bulk of his stage work was in repertory
theatre, though he did also write and adapted many short stories by H E Bates
for radio. In 1998 he co-wrote the screenplay for the Swedish film Under the Sun[1],
adapted from Bates novel The Little Farm.
Neal made
his TV debut with a small role in an episode of the medical soap opera Emergency Ward Ten (15th
February 1963). He was mainly engaged in theatre work during 1964[2],
but the following year would see Neal become much active on TV with small roles
in The Man in Room 17 – ‘Black
Anniversary’ (3rd September 1965) and the now lost BBC series Hereward The Wake (12th
September - 26th December 1965). Based on the 1866 novel by Charles
Kingsley and dramatized in sixteen episodes by Anthony Steven the production
had an expansive cast of quality character actors including Alfred Lynch as
Hereward himself. Neal's next TV credit was a small role credited as Young Man Number
3 in the ITV Play of the Week
production ‘Ivanov’ (21st
March 1966). Neal concentrated on theatre roles for the next few years and he
was absent from the small screen for a while.
He returned
to television with an episode of the police procedural series Fraud Squad. Neal is credited as Philip
Cross in the episode ‘Over A Barrel’ (24th June 1969) opposite
Christopher Benjamin donning tanned make up to play an illegal Kenyan
immigrant! He completed his TV work for the year with an appearance in the Softly Softly Task Force episode ‘To
Protect the Innocent’ (18th December 1969) as the character Oswald. Apart
from his TV work Neal had a role as a German Army officer in the World War Two
movie The Cut Throats (1969), a low
budget knock off of the similar themed and highly successful war film The Dirty Dozen. His next film role was
in the more high profile production of William Shakespeare’s play Julius Caesar (1970) which starred
Charlton Heston. Neal featured as Cinna the Conspirator.
The First Churchills told the story of the life of John
Churchill (played by John Neville), the first Duke of Marlborough and his wife
Sarah (played by Susan Hampshire). Neal appeared in the third episode, ‘Plot,
Counter Plot’ (24th January 1971), as the Speaker of the House of
Commons. He then had further small roles as a doctor in the Z Cars episode ‘The Taker’ (6th
May 1971) followed by a turn in The
Persuaders – ‘Someone Waiting’ (18th December 1971) in the guest
role of Jerry Sandford. His only TV work for 1972 was a Crown Court storyline.
Neal played Jonathan Fry QC in the story Doctor’s
Neglect, a three part tale transmitted between 11th October and
13th October 1972. Jack the
Ripper was a BBC docudrama which starred Stratford Johns and Frank Windsor
as their Softly Softly / Z Cars alter
egos Barlow and Watt examining the famous serial killers crimes in the hope of
identifying a suspect. The drama employed modern police procedures on the
established facts of the case as well as dramatizing events and the court
hearings. Neal was seen in episode five, ‘Suspects’ (10th August 1973).
Neal’s first screen appearance for 1974 was in an episode of the BBC period
drama Fall of Eagles – ‘Requiem for a
Crown Prince’ (3rd April 1974) as Baltazzi. He then made the first
of two appearances in the ATV police drama Hunter’s
Walk when he guest starred as DCI Terry in the episode ‘Digger’ (3rd June 1974) opposite
his future ‘Murrain’ co-star David Simeon as Constable Mickey Finn. He was engaged
by the BBC to play Doctor Ackerly in the Play
for Today episode ‘The Childhood Friend’ (27th June 1974) which
also starred Anthony Hopkins. Next was a role as Edward in the BBC production Churchill’s People – ‘Shouts and Murmurs’
(10th March 1975) and Neal followed this by playing the King of
France in a BBC Play of the Month
production of Shakespeare’s ‘King Lear’ (23rd March 1975) which
starred Michael Horden as Lear. Neal’s appearance as Mr Leach in ‘Murrain’ was
next.
Post-‘Murrain’ Neal featured in another episode of Hunter’s Walk which reunited him with David Simeon. This time Neal was cast as the character Kelleher in the episode ‘Spinsters’ (10th August 1976). He then took a very rare leading role as engine driver Bob Carter in both seasons of the children’s television series The Flockton Flyer made by Southern Television for ITV. Twelve episodes were made and transmitted in blocks of six episodes between 18th April 1977 to 23rd May 1977 and 9th January 1978 to 13th February 1978. He also had a small guest spot in an episode of the Yorkshire TV sitcom Selwyn, which starred Bill Maynard as the titular buffoon. Neal played a film director in the second episode, ‘Wish You Were Here’ (12th September 1978). 1978 also saw Neal make a rare excursion into the film industry when he was cast as the 7th Elder in the superhero blockbuster Superman (1978).
Neal would see in the new decade with a rare lead recurring role for the TV series Noah’s Castle which was based on the novel by John Rowe Townsend. Set in a near future where the UK is experiencing social decay and economic collapse leading to hyper-inflation and mass food shortages Neal plays Norman Mortimer, who fearing for his family’s safety, takes them away from the city and into the countryside to a large house. Here he reinforces the cellar to store food and essentials. However, the arrival of the Mortimers arouses the suspicions of the locals and the family come under threat as news of their food store becomes public knowledge. The series was directed and produced by Colin Nutley who had cast Neal three years earlier in The Flockton Flyer. The Southern Television production was transmitted between 2nd April and 14th May 1980.
Also during 1980 he could also be seen as the captain of Ming the Merciless’ air force in the Mike Hodges film Flash Gordon (1980). Neal’s appearance as Aidallberry in the two-part BBC 2 Playhouse production ‘Elizabeth Alone’ (3rd and 10th April 1981) saw him start a busy year of television appearances which included BBC Shakespeare dramatization, Timon of Athens (16th April 1981), with Neal making a brief appearance as First Senator under the direction of the esteemed Jonathan Miller. He stayed with Miller and was given the more substantial role of Proculeius in another BBC Shakespeare production, Anthony and Cleopatra (8th May 1981). The BBC Play for Today production ‘London is Drowning’ (27th October 1981) featured Neal as Walter Dodds in a play examining the possibility of London flooding which was written by ex-Doctor Who producer Graham Williams. This was followed by a role in the fourth season Blake’s 7 instalment ‘Games’ (16th November 1981) as Gerren, a mineralogist who is rescued by Avon, Villa and company. His last TV appearance for the year was in the popular, but critically panned BBC period drama The Borgias. Neal appeared in three episodes as Yves D’Alerge.
He started
1983 with a guest role in ‘Cry Wolf’ (9th January 1983), the seventh
episode of the fifth season of The
Professionals, as a character called Bauer. Number Ten was a Yorkshire TV series which depicted the life of
seven British prime ministers and Neal appeared in episode seven, ‘Bloodline’ (27th March 1983), playing
Doctor Addington supporting Jeremy Brett as William Pitt the Younger. He
completed the year with some light relief by appearing in the Bill Maynard
sitcom The Gaffer playing a golf club
secretary in the episode ‘Moonlight and Ruses’ (7th June 1983).
He undertook
what is possibly his most notable role next when he appeared in the final Peter
Davison Doctor Who era adventure ‘The
Caves of Androzani’ as The President in the first three episode transmitted
between 8th March and 15th March 1984. Annika, a three part mini-series
co-produced between the UK’s Central Television and Sweden’s Sveriges Television,
featured Neal playing the character Gordon Neal in the final episode
transmitted 24th August 1984. By
the Sword Divided was an epic BBC period drama set during the English Civil
War which depicted the conflict through the story of two families; the Laceys,
loyal to the crown and King Charles I and the Fletchers loyal to Oliver
Cromwell. Neal appeared in several episodes of the second season as Preacher
Lambe.
Covington Cross was a thirteen
episode production by Thames Television that was transmitted on ITV and the
American Broadcasting Company and starred Nigel Terry and Cherie Lunghi. Set in
the Fourteenth Century the series told of the ordeals endured by Sir Thomas
Grey and his children. Neal appeared in one episode, ‘Blinded Passions’ (24th
October 1992), as Lord Hazelmeer. He then made a rare big screen appearance
with a small role in the David Cronenberg film M. Butterfly (1993) playing a courtroom judge. His other main big screen
appearance for the decade was in the Merchant Ivory period film drama Feast of July (1995), based on the H E
Bates romantic novel. Neal’s character went by the catchy name of Mitchy
Mitchell. 1996 TV appearances began with the much maligned BBC series Crime Traveller playing Sir Iain Hawkins
in the episode ‘Death Minister’ (5th April 1997). His final TV
appearance was in the Showtime TV movie Garden
of Redemption (25th May 1997) playing Don Sebastiano.
Neal, not enjoying the best of health, retired from acting after these credits.
He died in Kettering on 27th June 2000. Neal had been married to the
costume designer Margaret Manning, but they divorced in 1981. The couple had
two daughters. His obituary, by his colleague Noel Davis, in trade paper The Stage summarised Neal as “Graced
with good looks and charm, he was much liked by his fellow actors, and
wonderfully professional.[3]”
[1] Under The Sun was Sweden’s official
entry as Best Foreign Language Film for the 2000 Academy Awards. The award was
won by Pedro Almodvor’s All About My
Mother.
[2] He
was a member of the Nottingham Playhouse repertory company under the leadership
of John Neville
[3]
Obituary by Noel Davis, The Stage, 10th August 2000
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